Tip: How to Manually Update PS3 using a USB Disk Drive

This guide will show you how to manually update your playstation 3 by downloading update file on Mac or Windows Computer and updating using a USB drive. One of the drawbacks of System Update on PS3 is that it doesn’t have resume support. Therefore, you have to restart from the beginning in case download fails in between.

Secondly, since update cannot run in the background(not even the download) your PlayStation can’t be used during this time. Also, unless you have the latest update installed Sony won’t allow you to go online on PSN or play anything online. Therefore, here’s what I do as an alternative method.

I download the update from Sony’s website using my Mac or Windows computer and then use a USB drive or memory stick to update my PS3. Here are the instructions.

How to Update PS3 Manually:

Create a folder on the Memory Stick called PS3 and inside that create another folder called UPDATE. Make sure that the folder names are in capital letters.

Download the latest update from Sony on your computer from here. You can use any download accelerator to boost downloading speeds. Once you have downloaded the PS3UPDAT.PUP file, copy it to the UPDATE folder you created above.

Now insert the memory stick or USB disk into PS3 and go to Settings > System Update.

Select Update via Storage Media and PS3 will display the version of firmware found on USB disk. Select OK to start updating.

Please don’t disconnect USB drive or switch off your PS3 during this time as it can corrupt your system. The power button automatically becomes inactive during update as a safety feature.